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KCSO investigator seeks to charge opioid dealers for overdose deaths with second degree murder

Lt. Heather Reyda with KCSO's Drug Related Death Task Force investigates overdose deaths, links the drugs to source, and seeks murder charges for those responsible.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — According to the Knox County Sheriff's Office, 498 people died from overdoses in Knoxville and Knox County in 2021.

Lt. Heather Reyda has been an investigator for Knox County's Drug Related Death Task Force for several years.

"The biggest goal is to be able to prosecute someone for second-degree murder for providing a schedule one or schedule two narcotic that caused someone death," she said. "The unfortunate thing is that it sometimes seems like as soon as we put five in jail - 10 more here doing it."

Just when Reyda thinks she has seen it all when it comes to opioids, she said something new enters the market.

"If we have a bag of narcotics at the scene and needles and tourniquets, we know that what we're probably looking at is something that hasn't been identified yet," Reyda added.

KCSO investigators said that fentanyl is by far the deadliest drug on the black market in 2022.

Even the tiniest amount of the drug can kill someone, such as the surface area on the tip of a pen.

Reyda said fentanyl-laced drugs have been the primary killer of people addicted to opioids, but now people are buying it unlaced.

Narcan is the saving grace for anybody who gets fentanyl in their systems.

Reyda showed 10News boxes of Narcan in her office to save overdose victims.

From May 11 to May 18, KCSO said 16 people overdosed in Knox County, killing 3 victims.

According to Reyda, there are 175 overdose deaths in 2022 as of May 20.

KCSO said any East Tennessean can help in the fight against the opioid epidemic by keeping prescribed painkillers under lock and key, and throwing unused drugs away at local drug takeback events.

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